They know what you did, during the transposition.

You thought no one saw. That you’d just get away with it.

But now it’s over.

You think they’ll take you prisoner? No. Maybe in the old days, but we don’t live in the old days anymore.

And now—the fuck?

With the elevator still suspended twenty feet above the ground, the rogue hauled ass, vaulting the guard railing and landing hard. She took less than a second to recover before she set off running at an absurdly fast clip despite the limp, arms pumping, pushing people out of her way, moving like hell itself was chasing her.

I stared after her, gobsmacked along with the rest of the elevator’s population.

I’d clocked her gear and presence, guessed she was a rogue type and that her gear looked too expensive to be a new User’s, and made the connection from personal experience that most sneaky-rogue types probably hadn’t gotten out of the event clean. She also had some Int, which made reading her harder.

So mostly, I was throwing darts blindfolded.

The rogue bowled over Hawkins, flipping over her and dead legging her on the way down. Every present member of the Adventurer’s Guild converged, far more than I realized. While their armor and robes were still wildly varied depending on class, there were small colored patches on their shoulders that varied. Probably indicating squad and rank.

Smart.

They’d figured out that something screwy was going on during our previous encounter and planned accordingly. Organized better. Having this intel helped. I needed to keep in mind I wouldn’t be able to run circles around them like last time.

They quickly hemmed the rogue in. She drew twin pearlescent daggers, but as soon as she stopped moving, there was an explosion of sound and a net entrapped her from the knees up, sending her tumbling to the ground. I’d meant to make her nervous in hopes she’d crack and act more suspicious. Not… this.

What the hell had she done during the transposition?

Many Users and Tower employees alike gathered around the display at a distant circumference, rubber-necking. That was a mixed bag. It meant more visual interference closer to the chaos, but also left the path from here to the fast-pass elevator as bare and open as a wholesale store after a fire sale.

Lance-guy gave the pandemonium a quick scan, apparently deciding that getting a closer look was less important than his come-to-greatsword moment, and took long lumbering steps towards the store, clinking as he walked.

“No, wait—”

I met immediate, mind-numbing resistance. He was dead-set on visiting the store. So much so that I wasn’t sure I could have talked him out of it with hours to do so.

Swearing under my breath, I kept pace behind him, angling myself so he blocked me from view, slowly increasing the distance between us. My heart pounded in my throat. The further I grew from him, the less coverage he provided. All it would take was one savvy person at the far edges to turn around and spot me, and things would get a lot more complicated.

After what felt like an eternity, I reached the fast-pass elevator. The attendant was up on his toes, trying to get a look at what was happening between the gawking crowd.

I grabbed his arm and forced the card into his hand. He jumped and looked at me with a foggy expression anyone who’s worked a twelve-hour shift would recognize. “Sorry. Um, floor?”

“Twenty-eight.”

A conflicted look came over him, his attention split between me and the chaos. “Oh, uh, be careful, fair hero, vampires—”

“I drink vampire blood for breakfast, let me pass,” I snarled.

“Kay.” The attendant swiped the card and stepped aside, his warning and my presence as good as forgotten. “Jesus, what’s with the vampire craze all of a sudden?”

I was so fixated on getting onto the elevator clear of the lobby that the last muttering didn’t sink in until the elevator was already moving. “Wait. How many people are on the twenty-eighth floor?”

“Good luck vanquishing the Dark Lord, hero.” He gave me a wave without looking back.

“How many people?” I hissed, trying to keep my voice down even as the elevator rose higher.

“We await your victorious return.”

“You fucker!”

But unless I started screaming at the top of my lungs, he was already out of earshot.

/////

I knelt in the center of the elevator. My heart was still racing, for an entirely different reason. I had every intention of entering a ripple on 28. One of the highest the Gilded tower would allow you to jump to. There was a reason I hadn’t dared push farther into the Adaptive Dungeon. The more difficult system content didn’t screw around. I’d nearly died fighting Azure in his corrupted form.

There were unknown variables in the ripple. The high-level team and Miles’ group, along with the Adventurer’s Guild’s rescue team made three, but the attendant made it sound like there were more. If the Adventurer’s Guild sent in a second rescue group, that made four, but I wasn’t sure if they would when, according to Kinsley, the first was trounced so soundly.

And unlike the Adaptive Dungeon, there was no guarantee of a possibility of clutching this out.

Talia paced back and forth. Even Audrey, shifting back and forth uncomfortably on her vines looked profoundly uncomfortable.

“Azure. You still around?” I tried.

“Yes. Not only is our alibi ironclad, I found some useful stuff. Valuable stuff, anyway. Did you know these Grimelings have gems deep in their ear canals? Like oysters or something. I know they’re supposed to be screwups, or spares, or whatever, but what exactly is the purpose of that—”

“I want to hear this, Azure, I really do, but I’m about to walk into a floor filled with vampires, and a ripple filled with meaner vampires or worse. You already told me how to deal with basic vampires, but we didn’t have time to talk about what I might deal with in the ripple.”

“It could also be easier?” Azure said. But he didn’t sound convinced.

“Assume it’s not.”

“Okay. Okay, let me think. If we’re taking the Grimeling Mandrake situation literally, while different, they had aspects that were the reverse of each other. The mandrakes screamed, and the Grimelings hated sound. So, could be a minor K’uei? They’re little frog demons that inject blood, rather than drink it. You should be able to handle them, though you might pick up a few diseases. Nure-Onna’s another possibility, though they stick closer to shrines.”

At this rate, we were going to run out of time. “Give me the absolute worst case.”

“Nosferatu.” Azure said instantly. “They’ll look like a normal vampire, but paler. You can really only tell by the expanded ability set. If you see them shape-shift into something functional or literally disappear into shadows, don’t even try to fight them. Just get Miles and run. And if they’re red—like have red spider webbing throughout their bodies—forget about Miles, turn around and get out.”

“That bad?” I asked. Azure was a lot of things, but he rarely exaggerated.

“Matt.” Azure said, concerned. “A single Crimson Nosferatu could level this city if something transported it here before the dome.”

“And now?”

“A High-Level User would take it down, eventually. But…” he hesitated. “They could take out a region easily, if one say, escaped at night.”

“Great. Keep in touch.”

“Stay safe,” Azure said.

That wasn’t the type of power I could fight, in any circumstances. It didn’t matter how much backup I had, that was the sort of overwhelming power that won. Period.

I swallowed, trying to still the shaking in my hands. Pulled up the store page and paid fifteen thousand and change for a common silver dagger—all that was currently available—and two dozen silver tipped arrows.

I flipped it in my hand, and frowned, finding the weight completely off. We really needed to do something about Kinsley’s stock issues.

“This is absurd.” Talia growled. “Miles made his den when he made you his enemy. What is the point of placing him in harm’s way if you come to his rescue, regardless.”

“I thought he could handle it.” He should have been able to handle it, if his team didn’t maroon him like Kinsley suspected. Ran afoul of the Order and gotten out if there was too much of a power differential.

“Then cut your losses and abandon this foolishness.” Talia rounded on me, her muzzle inches from my face.

“Big… meat.” Audrey said.

“You wanted to be partners.” I said. “If you’re regretting it, take the elevator back down.”

“I’m worried about you!” Talia shook her head. “About us. That you’re about to throw everything away to put a sword in your enemy’s hand—”

“Big meat.” Audrey said again, more insistently. She reached out with her vines and snagged Talia’s tail.

“Release me, you simpleton!”

But Audrey didn’t let go, just hung on stubbornly maintaining her grip as the other summon spun in a circle, trying to throw her off.

Big meat.

“She’s right.” I realized.

Talia slowed, looking at me like I’d lost my mind.

“Miles hunts necromancers. And by doing so, probably saves hundreds, maybe even thousands of lives those necromancers would take when they come to power. But it’s not just that. It’s easy to forget with all the noise that Miles isn’t the enemy. Or the Adventurer’s Guild, or the Order, or anyone else. The enemy gave me a class that made me public enemy number one. Created a situation tailor made to turn everyone in fucking Dallas against each other. Killed a hundred thousand during the transposition event.”

“Revenge is a distraction,” Talia said slowly. It was becoming our mantra.

“Yes.”

Her hackles were still raised, but eventually she backed down with a huff. “It’s getting increasingly harder to keep sight of the whole.”

“You’re not alone in that.” I admitted. “I’m… struggling. Which is why I need to deal Nick in, consequences be damned.”

“And if he sells you out? Or gets compromised?”

“We run.” I said. “Use Kinsley’s abilities to get the innocents out and lay low. It’s not ideal. I wanted to wait until we had a definitive solution for the geas, so the chances of him getting compromised were smaller, but I don’t think he’s gonna last if I do.”

“He was an admirable member of our pack, but I’ll admit, I don’t understand why you’re willing to go so far for him. The path you’ve taken to get here was not an easy one.” Talia said. She cocked her head. “Why is that?”

I answered honestly. “I don’t know.”

Talia circled around and plopped down next to me. “So. We gamble.”

“I mean, we might not even have to.” I chuckled. “If we stumble across a Crimson Nosferatu on our way to Miles, it’s probably all over.”

Talia’s lips pulled back, revealing her teeth. “If we find such an enemy, I have no intention of slipping quietly into the aether.”

“Same.” I held a fist out towards her. “No guarantee it will, but if it comes to that? We’ll put on one hell of a show.”

Instead of pawing my fist, as she had before, Talia placed her head underneath it and left it there. As I stroked her coarse fur, a wave of calm washed over me, all the fears and unknowns slipping away.

For some reason, I thought of Jinny’s title.

Half as long.

Twice as bright.